Randomized trial of primary anesthetic agents on outcome of coronary artery bypass operations

To examine the role of primary anesthetic agent on outcome of coronary artery bypass grafting operations, 1,012 patients were prospectively randomized to receive enflurane (257), halothane (253), isoflurane (248), or sufentanil (254). Except for administration of the primary anesthetic, anesthesia management was standardized for all patients. The randomized groups did not differ in demographic characteristics, extent of coronary artery disease, chronic antianginal therapy, hemodynamic characteristics including new myocardial ischemia at arrival to the operating room, and surgical characteristics that might influence the rate of postoperative myocardial infarction or death. From anesthetic induction to start of cardiopulmonary bypass, new ST segment depression appeared in 310 (30.4%) patients and was not different among primary anesthetic groups (28.0-33.5%). Similarly, the incidence of postoperative myocardial infarction (3.6-4.7%) and death (1.2-2.4%) was not different. Although intraoperative hypotension was twice as common in patients receiving any volatile anesthetic and hypertension twice as common with sufentanil, tachycardia (greater than or equal to 110 bpm) was not related to any primary anesthetic (4.3-9.1%) and was the only hemodynamic abnormality significantly related to intraoperative ischemia. The strongest predictor of intraoperative ischemia was ischemia on arrival to the operating room. The authors postulate that approximately 90% of new myocardial ischemia observed during anesthesia is the manifestation of silent ischemia observed in patients before operation and only 10% is related to anesthetic management. They conclude that, despite differences in the hemodynamic consequences of the primary anesthetics studied, none of the primary anesthetics influenced outcome and the primary role of the anesthesiologist in management of these patients is control of heart rate.